Animas Ping users, do you use the food DB?

Animas Ping users, do you use the food DB?

One of the things I thought I'd like about the Ping was the built-in Calorie King food database. Now that I'm playing with the ping, though, the user interface for the DB is so clunky that I don't think I'd ever use it in the real world. With only three buttons on the ping, looking up a food takes a LOT of clicks. A few clicks to get to the DB... another click to choose the food group... then scroll through a loooooong list of foods to finally find what you want.

I love technology, but even I think it's a LOT easier just to carry around my little Calorie King book for carb look-ups. And if that fails, I have Calorie King on my iPhone, which has a keyboard where I can just type in what I'm looking for.

Hi Barbra - I don't have a Ping, I have the Cozmo. but they both have the Calorie King on them. At the beginning I used the Calorie King on the pump quite a bit. That was one reason I got the Cozmo. I don't use it so much now because I've pretty much learned the carb counts of the foods I eat. But just last week we were at a new restaurant and I was going to have a croissant. That's something I never eat and I didn't have a clue as to the carb count. So I looked it up on my pump so it came in very handy at the time. I normally just use the book now. Especially if I'm at home. We tend to go to the same places around here to eat. If we want to stay close we have 3 whole choices for dining out and I typically don't vary my menu a lot.

I will have to change pumps but the Ping is most likely going to be my choice. Even though I don't use the Calorie King that often, I love knowing it's there. Plus you can customize it and put all your favs on there which is a plus.

I don't have an IPhone but if you're comfortable with it that could be the way to go. It sounds like it would definitely be easier to find the food choice you want.

I don't have a Ping but I have the 2020 and I know that I have a built in one that I customize with my favorite foods so that when I'm on the run it is easy. And yes you do learn the things that you eat and drink the most so it becomes a choice of conveniance I guess.

Regardless of our situation we are living with diabetes and this is our life.

I have an iTouch iPod. I have three applications that are really great for diabetics. One is named NUTRITION that has a massive food index and restaurant menu list. It also permits you to create a personal data base of foods. The other application is RESTAURANTS which as the name implies is a menu listing for many popular restaurants. Quite an extensive list. I also use an app called DIABETES PILOT that lets me do wondrous record keeping. This application also has a very extensive food database. I use this the most.

Hey Barbra,
I have a Ping, and I've customized my food list so that all my regular foods are in the favorite file. I also got rid of any foods I knew I would absolutely not eat. This makes it easier and quicker to use, while still allowing me to do a carb look up on an item I'm not sure of. Once you reorganize things, it comes in very handy!

I tried the DB in training one time. It was lacking what I was looking for. I know I can customize it via ezManager but it doesn’t seem worth it to me. It doesn’t seem any easier than simply figuring the carbs myself and keying them in anyway. I also use my blackberry and find most of my info for unknown carb content at thedailyplate.com.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the remote feature doesn’t always work for me, especially at work, so the food DB would be useless anyway. It’s not available on the pump itself.

I may be wrong going by what Schmancy says about the 2020 having a DB but I can’t find that feature on my pump.

I may be wrong going by what Schmancy says about the 2020 having a DB but I can’t find that feature on my pump.

With the 2020 this feature is a customized one that you do with the ezmanager and simpley create your own using the foods that you do eat. It is in the Bolus, ezCarb option under Food List. Once you enter your custom foods into the ezmanager and upload to your pump you can access it for quick carb counting.

I just checked - on the Ping, the food DB is indeed only in the meter-remote.

Seems like that would be OK. I expect that I will use the meter-remote most of the time anyway.

Still, after two days with it... I dunno if it's the crappy grey spring weather or not, but I'm feeling down about the whole thing. I managed to pull it off me again this morning, but sleeping with it was a lot easier than expected. But overall, I'm back to just wishing this whole thing would go away and I wouldn't be diabetic at all.

Someone tell me again that the pump is, in the long run, a lot less hassle than MDI. Cuz right now I hate both of 'em.

Still, after two days with it... I dunno if it's the crappy grey spring weather or not, but I'm feeling down about the whole thing. I managed to pull it off me again this morning, but sleeping with it was a lot easier than expected. But overall, I'm back to just wishing this whole thing would go away and I wouldn't be diabetic at all.

Someone tell me again that the pump is, in the long run, a lot less hassle than MDI. Cuz right now I hate both of 'em.

I'm sorry you are feeling down. I know I had the same feelings when I went on the pump. It's almost like being diagnosed all over again, with all of the new adjustments. I was so excited when I first got my pump, but after going live I had a short period of time where I hated it. Everything was a reminder, and it was taking over a lot of my days.

THERE IS HOPE THOUGH!!
After giving myself a little time to get used to it, I can now say, that I LOVE MY PUMP!!! I will never go back to MDI, unless I have to. I think what you're feeling is natural, and we all wish we could just get rid of the diabetes. I promise, when you start using the pump, and get through the learning curve, it is a wonderful tool. Don't give up hope, things will get better!